Heart Health After 40
Heart health after 40 comes down to a handful of numbers. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and it usually builds for years without symptoms. The good news: most of the risk comes from numbers you can measure at a routine check-up, and every one of them can be improved.
Start here
- Check your 10-year heart risk
A free calculator built on the American Heart Association PREVENT equations.
- Cardio for heart health after 40
How much you need, and the two kinds worth doing.
- VO2 max by age
The fitness number most closely linked to a long life.
- Blood sugar and your heart
Why insulin resistance raises heart risk, and four habits that help.
The numbers behind heart health after 40
Ask for these at your next check-up and write them down. Seeing them change over time is one of the most motivating things you can do for your health.
| Number | Healthy | Worth acting on |
|---|---|---|
| Blood pressure | Under 120/80 | 130/80 or higher counts as high blood pressure |
| LDL cholesterol | Your target depends on your overall risk (what your LDL number means) | 190 mg/dL (4.9 mmol/L) or higher usually needs treatment |
| Blood sugar | Fasting under 100 mg/dL, HbA1c under 5.7% | Fasting 100 to 125 or HbA1c 5.7% to 6.4% is prediabetes |
| Lp(a) | Test once in adulthood. Levels of 50 mg/dL (125 nmol/L) or higher raise risk. Why the Lp(a) test matters. | |
| Waist-to-height ratio | Under 0.5 | 0.5 or more |
Cholesterol, explained
High cholesterol is the number that started this site. These guides walk through it one step at a time:
- Cholesterol test results explained: every line of your lipid panel, and what the H and L flags mean.
- Cholesterol levels by age: healthy ranges, and how they shift for men over 40 and women after menopause.
- What your LDL number means: LDL 100, 130, 160 and 190, and when treatment is suggested.
- The Lp(a) test: the inherited cholesterol number every adult should check once.
Family history and heart health after 40
A heart attack or stroke in a parent, brother or sister at a young age (before 55 in men, before 65 in women) is a recognised risk enhancer in US prevention guidelines. It does not decide your future, but it is a reason to check your numbers earlier and more often. It is also why Health Aspire exists: our founder lost his father to a heart attack at 45.
The eight habits behind a healthy heart
The American Heart Association sums up heart health in eight measures it calls Life’s Essential 8:
- Four habits: what you eat, how much you move, not using nicotine and sleeping 7 to 9 hours.
- Four numbers: body weight, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure.
Our 14-point health check scores all eight, plus a few extras, and shows which one to work on first.
Know where you stand
The simplest first step for your heart health after 40: enter your numbers from a routine check-up and get your 10-year risk of heart attack, stroke and heart failure in about 3 minutes. Your answers stay in your browser.
Free weekly email
Stay on top of your heart health
One short email every Thursday: the week’s most useful research for life after 40, explained in plain English, plus one step for your heart. Unsubscribe in one click.
Sources
- Heart disease facts, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Lloyd-Jones DM et al. Life’s Essential 8. Circulation, 2022
- Whelton PK et al. 2017 ACC/AHA guideline for high blood pressure in adults. Hypertension, 2018
- Arnett DK et al. 2019 ACC/AHA guideline on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Circulation, 2019
- American Diabetes Association. Classification and diagnosis of diabetes. Diabetes Care, 2019
- Kronenberg F et al. Lipoprotein(a) in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and aortic stenosis: a European Atherosclerosis Society consensus statement. European Heart Journal, 2022
